U.S. Troops Depart Erbil, Marking End of 12-Year Anti-ISIS Mission in Iraq The final U.S. troops and equipment hAve left Erbil Air Base,concluding the 12-year Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. The departure marks a successful victory against ISIS and a transition to an Iraqi-led security effort, although challenges from Iran-aligned militias and ISIS remnants remain. The final U.S. troops and equipment departed Erbil Air Base in the country's northeast autonomous Kurdish region, War Department Spokesman. He said the "orderly departure" concludes Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq, the 12-year anti-ISIS mission that triggered a surge in U.S. troops to assist Baghdad after it faced collapse in the face of a supercharged jihadi insurgency, in a successful manner. Iraqi security officers flash victory signs while riding in vehicles decorated with national flags during a convoy celebrating the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, in Baghdad, Iraq,Wednesday,Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) "This milestone reflects the success of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organized military threat in Iraq and across the region. it also marks a transition from a wartime coalition mission to an Iraqi-led security effort supported by a more normal bilateral security relationship," Parnell noted in a statement.Iraq Takes Lead of SecurityHe noted the Pentagon would "continue to provide training and intelligence to support our Iraqi partners," and noted the U.S. would "expect" Iraqi Security Forces to "lead the continuing effort to secure Iraq and retain ISIS remnants suppressed." "The primary responsibility for addressing Iraq's remaining security challenges, including ISIS remnants and Iran-aligned militias that undermine Iraqi sovereignty and regional stability, right now rests with the Government of Iraq," Parnell said. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi presided over a handover ceremony, and celebrated the development as marking the successful conclusion of the international effort combatting ISIS."We announce the end of the mission of the international coalition fighting ISIS, demonstrating that cooperation between friendly forces and friendly peoples has produced victory over one of the darkest chapters of extremism and brutality in history," he said. "The mission has concluded in victory, and the responsibility for protecting this victory falls today on all our shoulders," al Zaidi added.He extended his "thanks and appreciation" to the U.S. forces and other members of the international coalition, concluding the controversial U.S. presence on a positive note. The withdrawal of U.S. forces, he noted, began a "new phase,one defined by Iraq's sovereignty, the strength of its institutions, the readiness of its forces, the unity of its decision-making, and balanced partnerships with its friends.Militia Disarmament Remains Unresolved"The prime minister and commander in chief then shifted to the next battle to conclude his speech, turning to the fraught issue of disarming Iran-backed militias. he noted there should be "no weapon outside the umbrella of the law,and no force outside the state's institutions, in accordance with the constitution and what our wise religious authority has called for, and what our people desire. " The U.S. withdrew without a firm resolution on militia disarmament.Iraq was saVed from an ISIS takeover largely due to the mobilization of tens of thousands of Shiite fighters, but after the defeat of the caliphate, they retained thier formations and became a parallel state. Al Zaidi has made disarmament a priority, but he has few avenues to accomplish this. Baghdad first set a deadline of Sept. 30 for the disarmament of all nonstate armed groups, but the date has come without much movement.The prime minister has since pushed back the deadline, telling theThe militias haven't been encouraging in their rhetoric. Abu Mujahid al Assaf, a security official with Kataib Hezbollah,one of the most powerful Iran-backed militias, responded to the U.S. withdrawal by celebrating and issuing a barely-veiled threat to overthrow al Zaidi."The expulsion of the occupation forces,defeated, from the land of Iraq is the beginning of full sovereignty," he said in a statement, then warned the prime minister not to carry out any U.S. plans. "Any government that does not work for the benefit of the people will be overthrown by all means," al Assaf added. The U.S.'s Kurdish allies are also in an uneasy position.The Kurdish regional government's Peshmerga Ministry noted it had come under attack from over 1,000 drones and ballistic missiles from Iran and its militias in the war, and that the U.S. withdrawal, "under these complex regional circumstances, without the provision of a defense system, is a matter of concern.A History of the U.S. Presence" By the time of the withdrawal,the U.S. presence in Iraq was a far cry from the 150,000 U.S. soldiers who poured into Iraq beginning on March 20, 2003 to topple the goverment of Saddam Hussein. While the initial invasion was highly successful, toppling the beleaguered government with minimal losses, the U.S. shortly found itself facing a resentful populace and a spiraling sectarian civil war, pitting largely Iran-backed Shiite militias against Sunni terrorist groups and militias. the U.S. presence in Iraq peaked in late 2007 during the Iraq War troop surge, when President George W. Bush sent tens of thousands of additional troops to tamp down on the growing insurgency.By 2011, the U.S. had largely withdrawn, leaving only a compact residual force. in early 2014, though, ISIS stormed into Iraq, seizing Mosul. the U.S. rushed back in,and the anti-ISIS coalition, led by the U.S. and including France,Great Britain, and Australia,began air strikes. The ground troops consisted largely of Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.The coalition's mission was officially over by the end of 2017, with the fall of ISIS's capital of Raqqa, yet U.S. forces remained to assist in stabilization efforts and to prevent a resurgence of the extremist group. Now, the U.S. is leaving, yet the security environment remains volatile.Persistent Security Threats RemainISIS remains active in rural areas,executing attacks, and the presence of Iranian influence in the form of the militias is a significant point of tension both for Iraq and for the U.S., which has frequently clashed with the militias along the Syrian and Iraqi borders.